Women’s Education in Uzbekistan: Opportunities and the Path to Progress

Since gaining independence, Uzbekistan has undertaken major reforms in the field of education. In particular, significant opportunities have been created for women to gain knowledge and acquire professional skills. This is because one of the key factors in societal development is women’s literacy and their active participation in science, culture, and the economy.

Today, thousands of girls across Uzbekistan have the opportunity to study at higher educational institutions. Government-funded scholarships play a vital role in supporting them on this journey. These efforts are part of wide-ranging reforms aimed at strengthening the role of women in society and unlocking their full potential.

Scholarships and Quotas for Women

Special benefits and programs have been introduced for girls seeking education in Uzbekistan. Currently:

Separate quotas are allocated for female students admitted under state scholarships.

Through the “Women’s Register,” talented but financially disadvantaged girls receive assistance to pay their tuition fees.

Under the “Iron Register” and “Youth Register” programs, special privileges are provided to support girls’ education.

Presidential scholarships and other grants are awarded to encourage the academic achievements of outstanding young women.

International scholarships and global education programs are also making it possible for girls to study abroad.

Additionally, the number of vocational training centers for girls has increased in recent years, where they are trained in modern professions. The growing number of skilled women in fields such as IT, engineering, and business is a clear indication of this progress.

Progress in Girls’ Education

Currently, a significant proportion of students in higher education institutions are women. Across the country, many women are becoming leading specialists—not only in education but also in entrepreneurship, science, and social spheres.

In particular, recent years have seen:

A growing interest among girls in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields.

The establishment of business incubators and entrepreneurship development centers specifically for women.

Successful participation of Uzbek girls in various international grant programs.

Thanks to the reforms being implemented by our government, young women are now developing into competitive professionals not only within the country but also on a global scale.

Peace – The Foundation of Independent Learning

Today, young people in Uzbekistan have the opportunity to pursue knowledge freely in a peaceful and independent country. This serves as a solid foundation and a confident step toward a bright future.

In contrast, we see thousands of young people around the world being deprived of education due to wars, instability, and conflicts. In Uzbekistan, however, great attention is paid to education, and favorable conditions are created for the youth. As a result, our girls are realizing their potential in science, technology, culture, and various other fields.

Therefore, today’s youth—especially young women—must set high goals and make full use of the educational opportunities available to them. Because we, the youth of Uzbekistan, are learning with confidence in a peaceful nation and a promising tomorrow!

Nozima Ziyodilloyeva 

Student of Uzbekistan State World Languages University

Liberty or Death

They took our country from us,

They took our lands from us.

Yet could not chain our voice,

Nor silence freedom’s poise.

They burnt our homes to dust,

They crushed our dreams unjust.

But still we rise with flame,

With liberty in name.

They’re harming our people,

They’re killing our lives.

They are the most punishable,

In depth of our eyes.

Are you people ready for

Liberty or death?

Our goal stands for 

Liberty or death.

Our freedom is our breath,

Our oath is liberty or death.

We’ll break their chain,

Or perish in the rain.

Md. Naeem Aziz is a Bangladeshi Author, Writer, Poet, Engineer and Photographer. He is best known for his poems & photography. He was born on 10th December 1998. He is from Dhaka, Bangladesh.

First Grade Music Class – Is there Poetry Here?

A class of first graders sway and rock.

Beating rhythm sticks to a sweet children’s-tune,

while a happy cartoon raccoon bops from beat to beat.

Using the Prometheus-unbound board.

We learn about music together;

Knocking out together the rhythmic bones of music.

I-teacher joyfully shows out: bobbing, swaying, smiling, watching.

Showing each child how to enjoy, especially the boys.

“This is how it is done. You can do this too. It’s fun.

C’mon it’s a joy. Do this with me kids.”

You are under my care: watch, learn, act, enjoy, bloom.

You are safe in my classroom.

Skinny Latino girl with a yellow bow in her long hair.

Look at her sway and speak to herself, hitting her sticks.

She smiles, with happiness, enjoying within herself and with her class.

A tune so happy and carefree I-teacher feels young.

Little Latino girl, hair style from 25 years ago, or from the South.

Long, long hair, lovingly combed and curled here and there.

A bright yellow ribbon adorning her luxuriant hair.

Her mother, her grandmother love this girl and make her beautiful for school.

They style her hair in a traditional way, not realizing the differences.

I-teacher spot it, smiles, she is loved, tenderly so.

And those who love her, make her pretty in a style from decades ago.

My dear sweet child, lovingly sent to school.

by a mother and grandmother who work in town.

Will you be safe from the hate?

The hate that spreads like exploded napalm.

Will the fire of racism come for you?

Please learn to dance and to love, not to fear and hide.

Stay in my class my sweet child, under my protection.

No one will take you while you are in my realm and vision.

Once I-teacher overheard one Latino middle-schooler say to another,

“Ice is going to take you away bro.” A prophetic tease.

Some truth, some meanness, some fear.

I’m searching for the poetry here.

I see the singing, swaying, stick-tapping girl.

Learning musical rhythm joyfully.

Her out-dated hair style topped with a shining yellow bouncing bow.

Such a cute, happy gift to the world – a heart with a glow.

And the haters, the thugs, their strengthening apparatus’.

Mug like professional wrestlers to the cameras.

Promising to remove this child and others.

Today, under my care and protection

My innocent children learn about music and rhythm,

While, out there, hate mobilizes against them.

For the Drug Addict in the Northern Areas of Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth)

We are living in a Renaissance, the African Renaissance. Attachment to the anticipation for the future arises from having high levels of a false construct that is held deeply within our core, where our personality resides, and rooted in our consciousness. Addiction arises from need, the need for freedom. The addict needs love. They get unconditional love, self–worth, a feeling of no regrets, self-love, love of self that is unselfish, all-encompassing kind of love and self-acceptance from the ‘fix’. The addict needs to feel accepted despite the mistakes they have made in the past. If and when the past does not exist for the addict they feel safe.

They begin to self-regulate their nervous and auto-immune system. The addict wants control. They want to control the high, the elation they receive from the substance they are consuming recklessly, without any thought to the injury they are doing to their brain. Does the addict live in the past, constantly bringing up painful memories from a conditioned childhood that they had no control over? It is a form of insanity to live in the past. This is a simple and profound statement that leads to understanding what Deepak Chopra said, that addiction has to do with karma. All humanity has a higher intelligence.

This exists in the animal world as well. You cannot escape now. The addict exists in the past. They relive past trauma, adverse childhood experience. There is an attempt to control the pain, the thoughts of the environment they found themselves in as a child where the trauma took place, the persons who hurt them as a child, adolescent or adult. Addiction arises from the mentality and mindset of having not received access to love from the same-sex parent or either parent and not having received adequate care, concern and unconditional love from parent, authority figures like a teacher, uncle, aunt, grandmother or grandfather, elder, church leader. Nobody asks what the addict needs. The addict requires a life of intention. They need to cultivate habits that will restore and renew good health, a sound mind and body. They understand on a subtle level that addiction will lead to their downfall in society, overdose and even death.

Therapy can lead to a happier existence for the addict, talk therapy, joining a support group, receiving support from a loving and attentive partner who is an effective listener, and believing in a religion. They need the company of a good friend or friends that they can participate in meaningful activities with who is also an effective listener and who offers them support. There are tools that are instrumental for our survival and communication. For example, our thoughts, emotions and feelings are part and parcel of that survival.

The now is what we experience in the present tense, the fleeting moment that  is gone in a second and that can never be replaced. Change and transformation can take place in the drug addict’s life but only with the loyal support of their family. Isolating the drug addict will never work because they too need a community (see promiscuity, sexual misbehavior, rape, gangs, gangsterism and gun violence). Religion also has its role to play in the foundation and education of the psychological framework of the individual. Healing and recovery can take place. It is the addiction that is the residual effect of abnormal thinking, incorrect habits cultivated over time and brain damage. The addict’s brain is indeed damaged and not just by the abuse of substances but by not adopting society’s norms and not living by and accepting religious values and views, and ideas.

The notion of time is ever-present at the back of our minds as we, the human race, humanity, chart our course in this world. The world a drug addict lives in is a world that is unpredictable. The addict feels unsafe, deeply unloved, misunderstood, misrepresented, rejected, isolated and alienated from his peer group, his contemporaries. They face self-doubt and insecurity on a daily basis. For the most part they are unemployed, although there are individuals who suffer from and crave illegal substances who try to go out into the world and seek gainful employment. There is a stigma that exists in modern society against a drug addict in recovery. People feel they cannot trust a drug addict and that they haven’t really changed. They are just going to steal to support their drug addiction.

With aging comes grace and acceptance. Acceptance is a key equivalent to love, and so are accepting our past, accepting our shared history with family members, siblings, parents, aunts and uncles and cousins. I believe there is a genetic code within all of us that pre-empts what is going to happen in our lives but nevertheless human choice, individual choice, and the choice of the collective, the choices we make, whether good or bad, choices that give us, our brain, our physical bodies cellular networks, our psychological framework and network negative or positive feedback can also inspire the lives we lead at the end of the day.

What the drug addict wishes to do by taking, imbibing, consuming, injecting, abusing the illegal substance or buying over the counter prescription medication is to mask, veil, cover the trauma they were exposed to, experienced or witnessed, whether it was verbal, emotional, physical or sexual assault. I state this explicitly. The community can help. It starts with the family unit. Listening, accepting, talking, not rejecting, and not isolating the drug addict, because isolation can result in suicide ideation, relapse and hospitalization (a long period away from home). The drug addict comes from a dysfunctional family unit/background, a weak family unit. The drug addict possesses intelligence. They know and sometimes acknowledge that they are harming themselves. Addiction affects the entire family.

With the prevalence of social media and growing societal expectations, it has become increasingly common for individuals to voice their frustrations and opinions online, particularly in technologically advanced societies. While there are valid reasons for expressing dissatisfaction on such platforms, I strongly assert that this trend has both harmful consequences and meaningful benefits. On the one hand, it may increase negativity and affect mental health; on the other, it can raise public awareness and lead to quicker solutions for social problems.

One of the major consequences of this trend is the spread of negativity online, which can significantly impact individuals’ mental well-being. As more people share complaints and disappointments about their lives, it creates a cycle of emotional dissatisfaction that others are exposed to daily. This constant exposure can lead users to feel more anxious, discontent, or even inferior, especially when comparing their own lives to what they see online. Over time, such emotional stress can damage people’s mental health and reduce the overall positivity of online spaces.

Despite these downsides, public complaints on social media also offer a significant benefit: they can serve as a catalyst for change. By bringing issues such as poor infrastructure, low-quality services, or political concerns into the public eye, individuals can draw attention from government bodies, service providers, and the media. For example, in Uzbekistan, citizens often highlight poor road conditions via social platforms. In many cases, these posts go viral and prompt authorities to respond quickly. In this way, social media empowers ordinary people to contribute to community development and hold institutions accountable.

In conclusion, although venting frustrations on social media can negatively affect users’ mental health by spreading pessimism and stress, it also allows people to highlight societal problems and demand immediate action. Thus, while the trend may carry emotional risks, it plays a vital role in raising awareness and pushing for positive change.

My name is Rashidova Jasmina, daughter of Bahodir. I was born on November 23rd, 2008, in Shakhrisabz district, located in the Kashkadarya Region of Uzbekistan. I am currently a 10th-grade student at School No. 74.

Throughout my academic journey, I have proudly taken part in numerous educational grants, national seminars, and academic meetings. I am a winner of several contests and competitions dedicated to education and innovation. Notably, I was a finalist in both the “BBG” and “FO” programs, which further motivated my passion for leadership and community development.

One of my most prestigious achievements includes being awarded the “Katta Liderlar” grant, which recognizes young emerging leaders in Uzbekistan. I also had the honor of participating as a delegate representing Switzerland in a Model United Nations (MUN) conference, where I strengthened my skills in diplomacy, negotiation, and global issues.

In addition to my academic accomplishments, I run my own educational channel, where I teach and mentor students in various subjects. I am also the founder and instructor of a Pixel Art course, where I combine creativity with digital skills to inspire others in the field of design and technology.

First, here are a few announcements.

Jeff Rasley’s released a new book, Presbyterian vs Methodist Youth Group Rumble in Pokagon Park. This is a light-hearted satire of teen life and the heightened emotions of the age.

Jacques Fleury was also invited to the Boston Public Library’s Author Showcase to show off his title You Are Enough: The Journey Towards Accepting Your Authentic Self.

The National Storytelling Championship seeks online submissions from Indian nationals living in all parts of the world.

Now for our new issue, Revival and Rejuvenation.

Christopher Bernard celebrates the photography of urban chronicler Vivian Maier and the recent rediscovery of her work.

Gopal Lahiri’s poetry looks over varied landscapes – aging city infrastructure, a painted teatime scene, a rainstorm – with a painter’s thoughtful eye.

Wazed Abdullah draws on soft, childlike language to elegantly portray a monsoon rain in Bangladesh. Don Bormon writes in a similar style of the rain’s return in the region after a hot sunny summer. Tamoghna Dey speaks to the strength and flexibility of water as a metaphor.

Eva Petropoulou Lianou finds union with nature on her daily walk, taking inspiration from its diversity and authenticity. David Sapp’s poetry highlights our human connection to the rest of nature through musings on barns, fields, and a dead cat.

Chimezie Ihekuna revels in the beauty of nature and the intricate ways in which its systems work and creatures survive, but warns of its destruction. Graciela Noemi Villaverde also urges care for the natural world and highlights how natural systems can self-heal and regenerate.

Sayani Mukherjee revels in the passage of seasons in nature as Kylian Cubilla Gomez explores the hidden world of snails, centering the small mollusk in his photos. Sara Hunt-Flores reflects on the sun lighting her path, helping her distinguish illusion from reality.

Svetlana Rostova uses nature metaphors to convey the breadth and intensity of her past experiences. Mahbub Alam compares falling in love to the wonder of seeing a firefly. Shamsiya Khudoynazarova Turumnova illuminates the way love can revive a person and rejuvenate their life. Dr. Prasanna Kumar Dalai evokes memory and the ecstasy of falling in love. Mesfakus Salahin pleads with a lover to take him back as a response to his enduring feelings.

Stephen Jarrell Williams reflects on the poignancy and power of stories: those in books and those of family love and passing generations. Kassandra Aguilera’s poetry expresses love that remains despite troubled parental relationships. Bill Tope’s short story addresses a platonic and artistic friendship between a man and a woman and the tragic social disapproval that drives them apart.

Scott C. Holstad probes various sorts of physical and emotional desire. Duane Vorhees speaks to birth and death, love and war, then turns to a personal blues poem about feeling disillusioned by faith.

Gordana Saric offers up a prayer for personal compassion and global peace. Brian Barbeito shares daily musings on meaning and ethics and and speculates on our individual lives’ effects on the universe. Inayatullah encourages us all to look inward and heal our inner wounds and forgive each other in order to change the world on a larger scale.

Lilian Dipasupil Kunimasa shares the hope and strength and healing she finds through her faith. K. Sayyid Mubashir Hadhi explicates the spiritual and cultural significance of Eid Al-Adha. Timothee Bordenave’s old-style pieces express his spiritual faith and desire for universal oneness. Bruce Mundhenke expresses how faith and wisdom can outlast our technologies and our inhumanity to each other. R.K. Singh calls us to ethnic and religious tolerance based on the world’s complex history and celebrates physical and spiritual love.

Dr. Jernail Singh speculates on how literature and drama, religious or not, can inspire moral development as well as catharsis, when villainy and evil are stopped. Matthew Kinlin interviews Kenneth M. Cale about the inspirations and creative process behind his book Midnight Double Feature: Director’s Cut, a stand against the growing darkness he sees in the world.

Lidia Popa describes the power of writing to transmute ideas and feelings into a mode of communication from one soul to another. Haroon Rashid outlines the role of silence, observation, and empty space for thoughtful writing in his ars poetica.

Xadjiyeva Nodira studies idioms and whether the phrases can take on different meanings within the same language. Kaljanova Gulmira’s paper outlines the benefits of having a language learner “shadow” a native speaker. Shahnoza Ochildiyeva’s essay explicates the complex task of translation and how, as of now, translation requires a human being with cultural awareness.

Isabel Gomes de Diego’s photography celebrates human and natural creativity in various forms: origami, sewing, typing. Bahora Mansurova turns to the craft of medicine, discussing ways to treat periodontal diseases. Linda S. Gunther reviews Kristina McMorris’ suspense novel of the newsroom, Sold on a Monday.

Nozima Gofurova describes an educational visit to Tashkent’s Mirzo Hotel, where she learned about Central Asian art and history. Joseph Ogbonna highlights the majesty and historical influence of ancient Egyptian civilization. Maja Milojkovic’s ekphrastic work draws inspiration from the strength of ancient Herakles.

Z.I. Mahmud explores feminist speculative literature in India and the works of Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossein. Bhagirath Choudhary, in a piece translated by Eva Petropoulou Lianou, advocates for respect for women and for society to celebrate positive traits traditionally associated with the nurturing feminine.

Eva Petropoulou Lianou speaks of her intimate and demanding relationship with her female poetic muse. Isaac Dominion Aju reflects on the artistic inspiration he received from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, whose work helped him to find his own voice. Donna Dallas’ poetic speakers find writing inspiration from a quiet morning, a busy urban city full of desire, and the throes of drug addiction. Hauwa’u Naseer Mukhtar evokes the peace and creative source of solitude as Chloe Schoenfeld resolutely affirms her claim to her own soul.

Kelly Moyer’s asemic poetry invites us to the experience of appreciating writing and art, even without literal meaning. Ric Carfagna’s poetry touches on perception, how we experience and make sense of our world.

Loki Nounou reflects on life’s unpredictability, as S. Afrose exposes existence’s slippery nature, complex and hard to pin down and define. Utso Bhattacharyya’s short story involves an ordinary man’s visit to a surreal reality existing alongside and within our own.

Alex S. Johnson’s horror tale probes the insidious way oppression works not only through violence, but also through individual and social gaslighting. Mark Young’s poetry crafts off-kilter scenes where people and other creatures adjust to their settings.

J.J. Campbell turns to poignant nostalgia while experiencing slow trauma. John Angelo Camomot’s verse speaks to the grief of losing a loved one and the comfort of memories.

Sean Meggeson’s humorous tales probe our relationships with authority and failures of communication. On the theme of authority, Taylor Dibbert observes wryly that leaders who are least affected by policies are often the first to advocate for them.

Mykyta Ryzhykh’s short story depicts war as an unwelcome trespasser, refusing to communicate its intentions or ask permission to occupy someone’s basement. Ahmed Miqdad laments the suffering of civilians in Gaza while expressing hope for the region. Combat veteran Steven Croft speculates on goals for a possible return to United States military intervention in Afghanistan and hopes they will finally get girls back to school.

Sadoqat Qahramonovna To’rayeva reflects on pursuing education as a child and teen in his humble farming village. Marjona Baxtiyorovna sends out a tribute to education and graduating students.

We hope this issue is educational, inspiring, and enjoyable!